Bumpy roads to reconstruction

Bumpy roads to reconstruction

In the latest issue of BRANZ's Build Magazine, a recent QuakeCoRE project involving researchers from Resilient Organisations, the University of Auckland and Market Economics, address the question of what differentiates the earthquake rebuilding timeline of Christchurch from other places like Kobe following the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and Los Angeles following the 1994 Northridge earthquake?

To find the answer, and to assist in improving the ability to resource future construction, the project team looked at the progress of restoring and rebuilding homes, infrastructure facilities and commercial buildings in Christchurch following the 2010/11 Canterbury earthquakes.

The longitudinal study of earthquake recovery in Christchurch suggested there is a delay in construction demand landing for real construction, which caused incorrect demand perception. Therefore, three essential components should be considered by the government agency and construction industry bodies taking the lead on disaster recovery for future disaster reconstruction planning:

A real-time, transparent, cross-sector construction information and intelligence reporting system – not using lagging metrics – that can be publicly accessible, especially for construction businesses.